Ouch on the money spent, but glad he’s feeling better!
2 Likes
He looks like he’s found a way to adapt 
. Good boy!
This past week has been nerve wracking and heart breaking.
We had to put our precious cat Gucci to sleep 
He suffered severe kidney damage. I noticed in the past few weeks he had been urinating excessively. I had gone through twice the amount of kitty litter that I normally do. He was also howling loudly (especially around 4 AM when we’re trying to sleep). We took him to the vet on Tuesday. The outward exam looked fine, but he performed blood work. Unfortunately his creatinine and DUB levels were astronomically high, indicating kidney damage. The vet recommended we take him to an animal hospital for an abdominal ultrasound and possible IV fluids. The 2 days after the vet examined him, Gucci pretty much stopped eating and pooping. He also hid and slept in a corner that he has never stayed in before. Thursday was an absolute 7 hour nightmare. We ended up going to 4 hospitals. First we drove to the vet to pick up his blood work and recommendation. They tried emailing us the results several times but we never got them. Next we drove to one of the better animal emergency hospitals. We wasted a couple of hours there. After they examined Gucci, they told us the technician that operates the ultrasound machine was on vacation. They gave us a list of several hospitals that have ultrasound machines. We called one to make sure they had one available and ended up going there. There was horrendous traffic. The third hospital performed another exam and an abdominal ultrasound which showed severe kidney damage and recommended he stay a couple of nights in the hospital for them to administer IV fluids to try and drain his kidneys and hopefully lower his creatinine and DUB levels. Unfortunately they were swamped and had no available cages to keep Gucci overnight. Several other hospitals were also fully booked. We finally were able to find a VEG franchise near us that had space to keep him. This place looked like a real sweat shop (huge open warehouse filled with cages and nobody over 25 working there). Unfortunately we had no choice. They suggested they keep him for 48 hours and provide IV fluids. They were real price gougers. They wanted around $3,000 a night just to give him fluids locked in a cage. This wasn’t the Ritz. They really take advantage of grieving pet owners who would do anything for their pets. We had no choice and agreed to this highway robbery. After the first night of IV treatments his creatinine and DUB levels went even higher! He pretty much stopped eating and was laying in his urine in a soaked wee wee pad. He didn’t even have the energy to go 2 steps into the litter box. He also refused to eat anything. We even brought his regular food and he wouldn’t eat that either. It was so sad when we visited him hooked up to all of these fluids. He did perk up for a few minutes when we saw him. He actually looked alert and we were able to open the cage and scratch his chin and neck which he enjoyed. However, after a few minutes he just laid down. We visited him again later that night and he was completely out of it. He looked. much worse. His eyes were ‘dead’. He wasn’t making any progress and we already out $7,000. We couldn’t afford to keep him any more days. We pretty much decided that we would have to put our poor little baby to sleep the next day. We spent some more time with him the next day and gave him kisses and scratched his chin, and tearfully said goodbye. He was 13 years old and never really sick before this. It just happened so suddenly. We had no time to prepare, and are still in shock.
RIP sweetheart 
Below are a few pictures of our baby.
I’m sorry for rambling on for so long.
10 Likes
Sorry to hear about Gucci’s illness and passing. He was very lucky to be loved by you and Mrs P.
3 Likes
Eli, what a horrible several days for you and Mrs. P. My heart goes out to you as you try to process all of this. Take much comfort knowing what a wonderful life Gucci had with you. He was the most fortunate of cats. 
4 Likes
Oh so sorry to hear. It’s so devastating to lose a beloved pet…
2 Likes
@paryzer I’m so sorry!
1 Like
I’m so very sorry about Gucci. But glad you could let him know how loved he was at the end.
1 Like
I am so sorry for the loss of your dear Gucci. You and Mrs. P. indeed gave him a wonderful life.
I’m so sorry.I took my late Izzy to my local VEG hospital last October for the same symptoms. There ultrasound, among other things, found one kidney basically destroyed. They did lots of tests and worked on him all night - then I got a 4 am call to come in immediately. I held him while they euthanized him in his little oxygen box. He looked so defeated. He was only 6. Yes, they were expensive, but I was angrier at my regular vet for not picking anything up when I took him faithfully for all regular check-ups and procedures. (Now my new boy is terribly sick with ringworm, and the only place he’s ever been outside of my condo is —you guessed it — to my regular vet. Who didn’t diagnose him. I got an appointment with a specialist on my own. )
Grieve all you want. He was worth it.
5 Likes
I’m so sorry you and Mrs. P had to go through all that stress. My condolences on the loss of Gucci.
1 Like
I’m so very sorry. He certainly lived the good life. I’ll miss his adorable face. Riposa in pace Gucci.
3 Likes
So sorry to hear. 
It’s such a heartbreak. Sending hugs to you and Mrs. Paryzer
1 Like
I’m so very sorry for your loss! He lived a wonderful life with you and Mrs P and you did right by him throughout. RIP Gucci.
1 Like
Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts It is very much appreciated. We are still trying to process this sudden tragic loss.
@Meekah I am so sorry about your experience with Izzy, and I sincerely hope your new boy gets the proper help he needs.
We are a little upset at our vet as well. I can’t understand why he didn’t immediately call us about Gucci’s severe blood test results. They supposedly emailed us the results the next day (Wednesday), but we never received it. Mrs. P called on Thursday, since she didn’t hear anything. They even tried to email us several times on Thursday, and we still never received it. Mrs. P finally had them read the email, and Vet’s recommendations, and she was flabbergasted. In retrospect, I don’t think that one day would have made a difference in saving Gucci’s life. We don’t want to argue with the vet since we still have our dog Matisse, who needs ongoing prescriptions for Apoquel.
4 Likes
First of all I’m so sorry for your loss. We’ve been there. But second, that $3k a night place needs to be shut down. Shame on them. Big time. Like you said they prey on pet owners.
4 Likes
Thank you. Unfortunately, they had us by the short hairs. We had no choice but to go to them, since they were the only place that had availability to provide our cat with IV fluids and keep him overnight. All of the other reputable animal hospitals were fully booked for the night.
Also, VEG (Veterinary Emergency Group) seems like a huge corporation with many locations around the US. So it doesn’t look like they will be shut down any time soon. They are also open 24/7.
2 Likes
I’ve been to 2 24 hr pet emergency facilities. They are all expensive - just like a human emergency room. I vastly preferred VEG, even though the outcome was the same at both, sadly.
2 Likes
Blue Pearl seems to control the emergency market in my region. (Touch wood, I havent needed them myself)
Fortunately my circle has had success stories when based on the recovery rates of the fur kids, but much resentment at feeling like they’ve been talen advantage of, financially.
